“Maybe they aren’t open yet?”
“Nan, the door was unlocked.”
“Maybe the owner stepped out. I’ll step outside to see if there’s a number posted.” Mina started to stop her, but realized it was probably for the best. If something dangerous was down here, she didn’t want Nan to get hurt. “Why don’t you go next door, to Rosie’s flowers, and see if they know who works here?” she suggested.
As Nan stepped out, Mina had the distinct feeling that someone, or something, was watching her. Turning around in a circle, she took in the dark oak shelves, the paisley wallpaper, the dimmed and burned-out lights. A check-out table and old cash register stood off to one side and looked as if it hadn’t been used in ages. The place was dust-free, but had the feeling of being empty for a long time, or at least empty of anything living.
A large chair stood to one corner and Mina began to walk toward it when she heard the distant sound of children laughing.
“Hello? Who’s there?” She took a few hesitant steps in the direction she’d heard the noise. “You can come out; I’m looking for a book. Maybe you can help me?”
A glow began in the back of the store and the sounds of children laughing intensified. Mina gulped, but followed the light as it grew brighter and seemed to pulse with its own rhythm against a back wall. When she finally reached the wall, the light disappeared and she was encased in darkness. Letting her eyes adjust, Mina turned and was confronted with a pair of red angry eyes. Jumping back, she stumbled and knocked into something furry that shifted from her weight. Mina screamed.
When nothing reached or lunged for her, she reached out her hands to touch the angry glass eyes she had seen earlier. They were part of a life-size giant bull, but it was either fake or dead. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Behind her stood another life-sized animal, this one a very large stag, frozen on his hind legs.
The stag and bull were lifelike and magical in their realism, neither touching the ceiling nor the floor. They’d been set about six feet apart in front of an intricately painted forest mural. The stag was on his hind legs, head angled as if challenging the bull. Mina touched the soft fur of the stag and felt heat emanating from the life-sized pieces. The stag swayed and slid a few inches to the right. Pressing her head to the wall, she could see that the animals were attached to sliders on the wall. Perhaps it was some sort of puzzle.
Taking a few steps back she looked at the two animals and decided that they were on the verge of being joined in battle. The bull looked angry, but the stag bore another expression entirely; it fearful and determined at the same time. This must have been a very talented taxidermist. She first went over to the heavy black bull and pushed as hard as she could, half expecting it to come alive at any second. Grunting and biting her lip Mina struggled with the bull piece until she had moved it to the center of the wall.
When she knew she had pushed it as much as she could, Mina tackled moving the large stag piece. Unbelievably it slid with ease toward the bull, almost eagerly. But at the current rate, as she pushed the stag, she realized it would be positioned dangerously in front of the bull’s horns. The thought made her uncomfortable, so when the stag had nearly reached the bull in battle in the exact center of the mural, she pushed up, so the rearing stag would have the advantage. She turned and heard an audible click over her shoulder, followed by ominous creaking.
Mina only had a moment to react as the giant bull, unhinged from the wall and fell forward toward her, horns aiming for her heart. Leaping to the left, she dodged the heavy piece as it collided with the stone floor under the stag, breaking in half. When the dust settled, a door appeared where the bull was moments before. “How can that be?” Mina thought. There was nothing there but the mural moments ago.
Dusting off her hands, she looked toward the stag and blinked in surprise. It was gone, but there was no door what the stag had once been. She supposed she had no choice but to try the door that appeared behind the defeated bull. She opened it slowly, looking behind her shoulder for Nan, reminding herself that it was better if she weren’t involved. The door led to a dead-end circular room, built of large stone blocks. She looked around the walls for clues but found nothing but solid stone. Wait!
Below her, there was something carved into the floor. Crawling on her hands and knees, Mina did the best she could to wipe away what looked to be hundreds of years of accumulated dust. Whoever cleaned the shop upstairs hadn’t bothered with this place. Her fingers could feel the distinct outline of something. Getting excited, she blew on the engraving, scattering dust particles everywhere. They were all over her clothes and hair, making her sneeze, but it didn’t deter her.
“So that’s where you went!” Mina spoke quietly as her fingers traced the outline of a fighting stag, glorious antlers in full array. It looked as if it were a seal or cover for something. Mina stood up and looked around the room for something to break the seal. Finding nothing, she turned and stepped on the stone circle in an attempt to head out of the room, but the ground shifted beneath her, causing her to drop to her knees.
The stone circle was dropping from underneath her into what looked to be… nothingness. Scrambling, Mina leapt away from the circle and dug her fingers into the cracks between another stone in the floor. The stone circle stopped moving and waited, almost patiently until her fingers gave out and she slid back into the hole to land ungracefully on her backside. Once properly seated again, the stone circle continued its descent, although slower, as if not to scare Mina further. It didn’t help, she was still terrified. Finally she heard a loud thump, and the floor stopped moving. She could tell by a burst of air she’d descended to a larger room, though it took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust in the near-total darkness.
Mina wasn’t sure how she’d get out of here, and thought about calling for help, but felt power gathering again, warning her that something was about to happen. Never leaving the circle of light cast into the hole, Mina waited. A small voice inside warned her to not step off of the stone circle. What if it decided to float to the ceiling again, shutting her in the dark forever? What if she ran into the bull out there? There were too many “what if’s” to convince herself to not leave the stone tablet. That was until her eyes alit on a clear glass coffin.
Mina averted her eyes, afraid of what she might see within. It could have been the bones of a small child or animal. When her mind was through playing tricks, Mina cast another glance to see that the glass coffin was not a coffin, but a glass chest. Instead of holding remains of someone who passed away, it held a yellowed scroll. Her heart began to thud with anticipation. Was this it? Was that the Grimoire?
Everything was surreal, misty and cloudy like a dream. Mina had no choice but to step off the stone and approach the chest to open it. Fortunately, it opened as soon as her fingers touched the lid, the scroll began to unwind of its own accord, and the yellowed paper seemed to resonate with a hum of power. Upon the scroll were words written in many different languages and dialects, along with beautifully crafted pictures.
Staring in awe, the painted pictures began to move and walk and speak. She heard voices and singing, the same children’s laughter she’d heard upstairs, all coming from within the scroll. Reaching a tentative hand up to touch the scroll, Mina recoiled as it shifted, and fell heavily to the bottom of the coffin, now a large leather-bound book.
